The Heist
by j1ack
Summary: How Ginny Weasley and company stole the sword of Godric Gryffindor. Please R&R.
1. Dumbledore's Army

Ginny first checked the hallway for any passersby, and then began to pace in front of a bare wall and to mutter under her breath, "I need a dance studio. I need a dance studio."

A door eventually opened and after checking once more for anyone watching, Ginny stepped into the Room of Requirement. It was risky teaching the DA here of all places; Snape knew that this is where Harry had first held the DA, and the Room, as it was often called among the current members of the DA, was likely watched by someone. However, Ginny couldn't think of anywhere else that the new DA could meet, so she had set up new security precautions for the Room and the members of the DA. One of these precautions was the change of location. It was never, "I need a place for the DA to practice." The first week it was a classroom, and then it was a bathroom. Dance studio was at the bottom of the list of ideas, and they would have to come up with some more ideas soon. Another security measure instituted was the ability was the ability to get into the DA. One had to know one or more of the leaders, Ginny, Neville, or Seamus, personally. The prospective member would then undergo questioning under veritaserum. Only after being approved by all three leaders and several other DA members would anyone be accepted. Otherwise, it was a memory wipe for you. Along with a safe word that was needed to talk about anything regarding the DA, this was one secret organization that was remaining a secret as long as Ginny could help it. The whole operation would have been much easier if Harry hadn't taken the Marauders'' Map. What did he need it for, anyway?

"Good afternoon, Dumbledore's Army!" Ginny spoke as if addressing an army of aurors instead of about twenty eleven to seventeen year olds. None of the DA leaders believed in age restrictions when fighting to defend your life.

"He will only have truly left Hogwarts when none here are loyal to him," was the appropriate response, and it was chorused with enthusiasm by the members. The dance studio had decent acoustics, so there was a slight echo of every shoe scuff, every nervous cough, and every impatient sigh. The mirrors on every wall depicted various reactions of the various students: nervous, confident, wary, scared, and enthused.

Ginny began to pace at the front of the room. "As you may or may not know, in the last war You-Know-Who had assistance from not only wizards and witches who had serious mental problems, but also from various magical creatures, namely giants and dementors. As his power is increasing rapidly, he is also regaining the alliances that he once had with these magical creatures. As members of the DA, you will need to know how to defend yourself against such creatures. Today, we will start with the dementor.

"You could certainly find some boring description of them in the library, but I'll give you a brief summary. If you ever see a floating figure wearing a black cloak that looks like it hasn't taken a trip through the laundry in a couple of centuries, or if you suddenly feel cold or depressed for no apparent reason, chances are you are dealing with a dementor. They do have the ability to suck out your soul, so let's learn the one spell that is effective against them: the Patronus Charm.

"This charm has two forms: shield and corporeal. A shield charm is definitely effective, but not nearly as powerful as a corporeal. Shields can only defend from one direction. Corporeal patronuses, if they are powerful enough, can create entire walls that dementors can not pass through. Corporeal patronuses will take the shape of an animal, for example." Ginny drew her wand and exclaimed, "Expecto Patronum!" A silver doe leapt from her wand and pranced around the room. Some of the younger children's eyes danced with excitement as the hind stepped right up to them and extended her head toward them. Ginny let the DA marvel at her creation while she continued to explain, "Patronuses can only be cast if you are thinking about something extremely happy. So conjure up a memory and remember the incantation, 'Expecto Patronum.'"

Neville and Seamus showed up about halfway through the lesson. They tried to avoid getting to meetings at the same time; again, they didn't want to cause suspicion. By the end of about an hour lesson, about half of the class had been able to cast some sort of corporeal patronus, although only three had been able to maintain it for any sustained period of time.

"Wonderful lesson everyone. I have some announcements before everyone leaves. The safe word for this week is flobberworm, and we are meeting the Friday after next in a gym."

"What's a gym?" one of the first years asked.

"It's a place where muggles go to work out," answered a fourth year.

"Any other questions?" Everyone was mute and looked sad because it was nearing the end of the best class at Hogwarts.

"DA dismissed! Although, can I speak to Neville and Seamus afterward?" Ginny asked.

After the last DA member had left, Ginny said, "We can't stay in the shadows any longer. We have to make an active move against Snape and the Carrows."

"Like what?" asked Seamus. "Give them puking pastilles?"

"Was that a serious suggestion?" Ginny questioned incredulously.

"Seamus does have a point," Neville added. "There's not much that we can do besides the DA lessons."

"I have a plan to steal the sword of Gryffindor from Snape's office."

Neville and Seamus opened their mouths to disagree, but Ginny stopped them.

"We'll use disillusionment charms on ourselves, sneak into Snape's office, and hide the sword in the Room."

Seamus saw a gaping hole in the plan. "You do realize that you need a password to get into the Headmaster's office, right?"

"Here's what I'm thinking," Ginny said. "Do you remember when we were in one of the Carrow's classes, I can't remember which, and a floorboard came up and smacked him in the face? Or what about that time when Snape was giving the start of term speech, and all of the candles suddenly just went out?"

"I remember!" Neville exclaimed. "No matter how hard the teachers tried, they couldn't get them to light until two days later!"

"My theory is that the school recognizes that it's being attacked from the inside, and it is working for us."

Seamus and Neville stared skeptically.

"It makes sense," started Seamus, "but what if that's not true? What if we get to Snape's office and it won't let us in?"

"We will turn around and come back," Ginny said.

"I'm in," Neville said.

"Me too," Seamus echoed.

"Okay. Meet me in the common room at midnight next Thursday. That's the day when there are the least guards around the route to Snape's office."

Ginny made a move to go to the door, but Seamus asked, "Ginny, can Neville and I ask you something?"

"Yes, of course," Ginny responded.

"Well," Neville started, "Seamus and I remember when Harry first started the DA, your patronus was a mare. We saw you cast a doe earlier. It may not be any of our business, but we kind of wanted to know what happened to you that caused your patronus to change."

"You're right," Ginny stated, "It is none of your business."


	2. Neville

"Seamus, even though you can't see me, I sure hope that you can feel that you are standing on my foot," Ginny said as she put her wand back inside of her robes. Ginny had just cast disillusionment charms on the trio, Neville, Seamus, and herself, and they were about to make history. They were going to steal the sword of Godric Gryffindor right from under their dear headmaster's nose.

"Sorry, I thought that was just a bump in the carpeting," Seamus said as he removed his foot. Ginny was silent.

"I don't think that was the right response," whispered the disembodied voice of Neville.

"Anyway," Ginny said, breaking the uncomfortable silence, "You two both have the route and the plan memorized? Because if we were to talk, that would give our positions away."

"I think we both do, but let's just go over it one more time, just to be safe," Neville said.

"Okay," Ginny began, "We are all taking different routes to Snape's office, so only one of us will be caught if that does end up happening, and the other two can continue with the operation. We meet outside of the gargoyle at 1 A.M. exactly. We've all set our watches, so if you are not there, we will assume that you've been caught and continue with the operation. I suppose then we will just have to talk to the gargoyle? That part isn't very clear, but if we do manage to get the gargoyle to move, we go in, get the sword, and get out. We are smuggling it to a spot that Hagrid has arranged for us in the Forbidden Forest. Are we all clear?"

"Yes," Neville and Seamus chorused.

"Before we go, I would like to dedicate this mission to Luna Lovegood," Ginny said. Luna had been "taking some time off" according to Snape, but everyone knew that she had been forcibly removed from campus by the Carrows. Everyone had their suspicions, but no one knew for sure where they had taken her or why.

"To Luna Lovegood," the trio toasted, and they left to meet again later.

BANG!

The coat of armor hit the stone floor with a resounding crash. Neville hopped away, tripping over a gauntlet in the process. He continued on his way to Snape's office, cursing himself for being so clumsy. A few minutes later, another coat of armor crashed to the floor as he passed. Neville was sure that he didn't even look at that one, let alone touch it, but he kept moving. An even shorter while later, yet another shining suit of armor clattered to the floor. "Okay," he thought, "Three times is not a coincidence!" Just as he had thought this, Peeves came floating up through the floor.

"Hee hee hee. Sticks and stones won't break my bones, but apparently they'll break these guys!" Peeves exclaimed as he zoomed around, knocking over more coats of armor and a few paintings, whose occupants awoke with a start and started yelling either at Peeves or for the Baron.

At this point, McGonagall came storming into the room. She was quite a sight at this early in the morning. Her purple nightgown had flowers that were actively blooming on it, and her graying hair hung down to almost her waist. She stopped about two feet from Neville and began to yell angrily at Peeves, "If you don't stop this havoc right now, I'm going to call the Baron. And I'm sure that you know what he tends to be like at this time of night."

"Oh, I'm shaking in my boots!" Peeves had put on a pair of metal boots and was clattering his feet together, making an awful cacophony.

"I'm serious, Peeves. So stop now or you can talk to the Baron about it."

"Oh, you're no fun. Never have been, never will be," Peeves grumbled as he floated away, and McGonagall, looking satisfied, swept off in the other direction. Neville, now positive that the coast was clear, continued to Snape's office.

"Hmm... Ickle students shouldn't be out of bed at night now should they?"

Neville whipped around and saw that Peeves was staring him straight in the face, which wasn't possible because he was supposed to be invisible. Neville looked down at his hands, and, much to his surprise, he was still invisible.

"Oh, don't think that your wee little spells can fool we poltergeists, little kiddie who has a long bottom."

Neville knew that Peeves had a nasty habit of ratting people out to Filch, so he also knew that he had to think quickly if he didn't want to get caught.

"Peeves, I'm going to pull a huge prank. Some friends of mine and I are going to steal the sword of Godric Gryffindor from Snape's office. You can help too, if you like," Neville whispered. He prayed that Peeves would agree to help him and not turn him into Filch.

"Oo-hoo! Where ever there a prank may be, I've just got to be me! Don't leave me out of the fun; just leave it to me to jump the gun!" Peeves zoomed down a different hallway than the one that McGonagall had, cackling merrily and spewing out rhymes that didn't always include nice words.

Neville sighed in relief. One obstacle down, who knows how many more to go.


	3. Seamus

Seamus hadn't been particularly adept at climbing stairs before he came to Hogwarts. It wasn't like he had any trouble with them; he just couldn't jump five or six in one bound. Like most Hogwarts students, however, Seamus learned that stairs are an important part of Hogwarts life. In order to be punctual in moving from class to class, students had to know the stairs. There were staircases that moved, sometimes on a pattern, sometimes not. There were some staircases that led no where, while others led you around in circles, and of course there were the flights of stairs that had trick steps in them that you always had to remember to jump. One would think that any seventh year student would have had all of this memorized after all the time that he had been there. Perhaps it was the nerves, or perhaps it was just him being clumsy, but Seamus seemed to have forgotten that the unmoving staircase that takes one from the seventh to the sixth floor has one of those trick steps, the fourth one from the top, actually. So after a rather loud, "Ouff!" and much hushed whispering for Ginny and Neville, Seamus gave up. He wasn't even off the floor on which he had started and he was already into trouble. He felt rather awkward sitting with one leg dangling through the staircase and the other splayed out across the stairs.

Seamus had been sitting there for what had felt like hours when suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder blade and heard an "Ouch!" from behind him. He then felt what seemed like a hand ruffling through his hair.

"Um, who are you?" asked a disembodied voice.

"Seamus Finnigan. And who are you, might I ask, and why are you invisible?"

"It's Lavender Brown. I just came back from planting dungbombs in the Carrows' offices. Why are you sitting on a staircase, and why are _you_ invisible?"

"I'm not sitting. I kind of... forgot to jump the trick stair. I've been sitting here for what seems like ages. Do you mind helping a guy out?"

"You of all people..." Lavender muttered as she hoisted Seamus out of the stair by his armpits with surprising strength for someone of her slender build.

"Thanks for that Lavender. I definitely owe you one."

"How about a drink down in the kitchens sometime?" she asked flirtatiously.

"Ummm..." Seamus tried to think of a way to avoid the question, but the opportunity to escape presented itself in the form of a pair of bulging, lamp-like eyes. "Don't. Move," Seamus whispered as softly as he could as he locked eyes with a certain tabby cat.

"What is it?" Lavender hissed back as Mrs. Norris whisked away.

"It was Mrs. Norris. Get back to the dorms before she comes back with Filch!"

"Wait, Seamus! You never told me what you're doing!" Lavender whispered, but by this time Seamus was already several floors below her.

Seamus raced down stairs, around corners, and through secret passageways, trying to make up for lost time. He was going so fast that he almost couldn't stop himself from running directly into Professor Flitwick, who looked like, for lack of a better word, a zombie. He was walking like a person who had had one to many butterbeers, and was muttering something to himself.

Seamus stooped down and looked his professor in the eyes. They were open, but it didn't look as if there was a light on upstairs. Seamus caught a bit of what Flitwick was saying.

"No Mom... You can't let Billy mop the floor...that's bananas' job...stop clicking the tock..."

Seamus finally came to conclusion that his charm teacher for seven years was a sleep walker and sleep talker. Seamus smiled and turned Flitwick around so that he was at least headed in the direction of his office. Seamus would have guided his poor teacher all the way back to his office because he was a good person at heart, but there were more pressing things that required his attention at the moment.


	4. Ginny

Had you or I been in that particular corridor on that particular night, we would have noticed nothing amiss. Just a plain corridor with a few chips in the walls and a few scuffs on the floor. But had a poltergeist, or something like him, been there, he would have seen a beautiful, troubled girl who was hurriedly making her way toward you. Her bright red hair was tied back in a pony tail, and she was always looking behind her, even though she knew no one could see her. Her pretty face was contorted with a mixture of fear and sadness; however, there was someone in that particular corridor on that particular night, and it wasn't a poltergeist or something like him. Being invisible, one would think that Ginny might be able to avoid such wandering persons, but she was to distracted and distraught to notice anything else around her. So Ginny ran straight into her.

The Professor immediately drew back and pulled her wand from beneath her nightgown, which had flowers that were actively blooming on it.

"_Incarcerous!" _she shouted. Ropes flew from her wand and wrapped themselves around Ginny, who fell to the floor with a surprised high pitched yelp.

"Well, I thought you were Peeves, who by the way has caused so much trouble tonight that I think he might want a talking to from the Baron, but apparently you aren't that nuisance of a poltergeist."

"Professor McGonagall, it's me, Ginny Weasley..." Ginny's last words barely passed from her lips as the ropes McGonagall had cast upon her were slowly getting tighter.

"Oh, goodness! I'm so sorry Ginny!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed as she charmed the ropes from Ginny's body. "Although I am glad that you aren't Peeves or some meddling Slytherin, I'm afraid I must ask you what you are doing roaming the corridors with a disillusionment charm on you at one in the morning."

Ginny saw no other option but to tell the truth. "Professor, a few of my friends and I are on a mission to steal the sword of Gryffindor from Snape's office."

Shock flitted across McGonagall's face, but it was soon replaced with a mischievous smile. "Well, under different circumstances Miss Weasley, I would deduct a great deal of house points and send you back to your dorms immediately, but these are hard times, and you know what? I don't even recall bumping into you a few minutes ago."

It took a while for this to register with Ginny. "Thank you so much Professor," she said breathlessly.

"It was nothing, dear. Have a good night!" McGonagall said as she continued to make her way down the corridor.

Ginny picked up her journey in the opposite direction, almost not believing how lucky she was.

* * *

><p>Invisibility turned out to be an asset for the trio, but it also caused a few awkward moments. For instance, when Seamus first arrived at the gargoyle in front of the headmaster's office, he ran into Neville, which ended with both of them falling on the floor, Seamus on top of Neville. After both of them scrambling to their feet and some muttered apologies, they both stood in awkward silence, waiting for their leader to arrive.<p>

Another awkward moment happened when Ginny arrived on the scene. She was also running, and she also ended up colliding with the pair of boys, sending the trio once again toppling to the floor, this time with Ginny on top of the two boys.

After much whispered apologizing, Ginny said, "Okay, are we on time?"

"You know, I think that was the one flaw with your plan Ginny. I bet you didn't realize that you wouldn't be able to see these watches that are synced to each other when our entire bodies are disillusioned, right?" Seamus asked.

"Oh. No I didn't realize that. Oh well, let's just get up into the office and get the sword," Ginny said, and the trio turned toward the gargoyle.

"Um... I know that you don't really like the people who have taken over here, and we are on a mission to overthrow said people, although we need access to the headma..." Before Ginny had even finished her sentence, the gargoyle had sprung aside so fast that Seamus thought a fire might have been lit underneath it.

The three students rushed into the office and opened the door as quietly as they could. What they saw was completely different than what they expected. Instead of skulls, ancient crumbling tomes, or other evidence of dark magic, Snape's office was completely clean, and utterly empty. Not one thing adorned the tables or his desk, and not one book occupied the many bookshelves around the walls. It looked as if not one person had set foot in this room since Dumbledore had walked out for the last time.

Ginny saw their prize sitting behind Snape's desk in a glass case. She whispered for Seamus and Neville to follow, and the trio tiptoed behind the massive desk. Ginny drew her wand from beneath her robes and whispered, _"Silencio,"_ and then, _"Diffindo." _The glass casing caved in silently, and then Seamus disillusioned the sword and handed it to Neville. Had they been able to see each other, they would have been able to see the smiles of triumph plastered across each other's faces. The three students crept as quietly as they could out of Snape's office, almost not daring to breathe, but wanting to burst with celebration. Had they kept constant vigilance, as one of their Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers once said, they might have avoided the next sequence of events.

_"Incarcerous." _The voice that came from behind them was so penetrating and so evil that the ropes that knocked them to the ground might not have been necessary.


End file.
